myzislow
Active member
After browsing the forums and being inspired by all of the great tanks and corals that people are working with these days, I've decided to create a thread for my new tank I've been working on for awhile now. I hope to share my experience throughout the entire process; from the welding of rock work to transferring my livestock, and of course as many worth while updates as I can.
The tank itself is a rimless/braceless design, made by Leemar. The stand was a custom job done by a couple local buddy's of mine. Here is a quick rundown of specs and equipment:
Tank: Rimless Leemar 40"x26"x21" Starfire front panel. Corner triangular overflow
Lighting: 24" Sifiligoi XR4 250wSE 4x24w T5HO fixture, M80 magnetic ballast, 250w Radium, 4x24w blue plus
Skimmer: ATB 840 v2.
Circulation: 2x MP-40w on opposing sides, Mag 9.5 for return
Controller: Neptune Systems ACJr.
Top off: Tunzee osmolator
Dosing: 2x Drew's Dosers, B-ionic 2 part
Sump: 40 gallon breeder; baffleless
2x Two little fishes reactors(gfo & carbon)
After ~8 years of maintaining my old 29 gallon it became apparent that I was in dire need of an upgrade. I had no more room for corals and was beginning to form a general sense of apathy towards the tank; it just wasnt fun anymore. After all most of my enjoyment in this hobby stems from growing coral out, and watching things mature and color up as best I an get them to; something I just couldn't do in my 29 anymore.
Old shot of my standard sumpless 29 gallon:
I had been planning this build in my head for as long as I can remember. After scouring the internet for many late nights I began to form a very good idea of what I wanted in my next tank. My goal was to have an all around aesthetically pleasing setup, utilizing a 'minimalist' type of scape with a select number of coral. The tank will be a mixed reef, but I'm a stickhead at heart and I'm sure it will end up being SPS dominated. I pondered different lighting setups over and over, and I basically came to the conclusion I cannot run a tank without the shimmer of a metal halide bulb. I went with the sifiligoi fixture because not only is the quality amazing, but they are one of the few companies to offer SE fixtures with a large reflector in an appealing design. This light is very bright and the spread is good corner to corner, I couldn't be happier with my decision.
I just recently began transferring what livestock I have left and so far most everything has responded pretty well.
Here are a few teaser shots:
Scape welded together years in advance haha:
Livestock waiting in a holding tank:
New tank back at my house after a long drive:
skimmer arrived after quite the wait, but well worth it!
Got her plumbed thanks to the resident plumbing expert:
All of the electronics mounted and skimmer in place:
First corals added after the test corals passed:
Since then I've added pretty much most all of my SPS that I had left. I'll try and get some shots of how it looks these days on here pretty soon. Hope you enjoyed so far and I look forward to sharing my experiences throughout this process.
The tank itself is a rimless/braceless design, made by Leemar. The stand was a custom job done by a couple local buddy's of mine. Here is a quick rundown of specs and equipment:
Tank: Rimless Leemar 40"x26"x21" Starfire front panel. Corner triangular overflow
Lighting: 24" Sifiligoi XR4 250wSE 4x24w T5HO fixture, M80 magnetic ballast, 250w Radium, 4x24w blue plus
Skimmer: ATB 840 v2.
Circulation: 2x MP-40w on opposing sides, Mag 9.5 for return
Controller: Neptune Systems ACJr.
Top off: Tunzee osmolator
Dosing: 2x Drew's Dosers, B-ionic 2 part
Sump: 40 gallon breeder; baffleless
2x Two little fishes reactors(gfo & carbon)
After ~8 years of maintaining my old 29 gallon it became apparent that I was in dire need of an upgrade. I had no more room for corals and was beginning to form a general sense of apathy towards the tank; it just wasnt fun anymore. After all most of my enjoyment in this hobby stems from growing coral out, and watching things mature and color up as best I an get them to; something I just couldn't do in my 29 anymore.
Old shot of my standard sumpless 29 gallon:
I had been planning this build in my head for as long as I can remember. After scouring the internet for many late nights I began to form a very good idea of what I wanted in my next tank. My goal was to have an all around aesthetically pleasing setup, utilizing a 'minimalist' type of scape with a select number of coral. The tank will be a mixed reef, but I'm a stickhead at heart and I'm sure it will end up being SPS dominated. I pondered different lighting setups over and over, and I basically came to the conclusion I cannot run a tank without the shimmer of a metal halide bulb. I went with the sifiligoi fixture because not only is the quality amazing, but they are one of the few companies to offer SE fixtures with a large reflector in an appealing design. This light is very bright and the spread is good corner to corner, I couldn't be happier with my decision.
I just recently began transferring what livestock I have left and so far most everything has responded pretty well.
Here are a few teaser shots:
Scape welded together years in advance haha:
Livestock waiting in a holding tank:
New tank back at my house after a long drive:
skimmer arrived after quite the wait, but well worth it!
Got her plumbed thanks to the resident plumbing expert:
All of the electronics mounted and skimmer in place:
First corals added after the test corals passed:
Since then I've added pretty much most all of my SPS that I had left. I'll try and get some shots of how it looks these days on here pretty soon. Hope you enjoyed so far and I look forward to sharing my experiences throughout this process.